Cardio vs weights... How often to do what?

sati18

Hi guys,

So I'm loving the fitnessblender workouts as they give me guidance and motivation but there are enough to not do the same thing day in day out. After humming and having about buying weights for months, I've taken the plunge and bought an awesome set of adjustable dumbells so I can reallt get in on the weight training action.

My question is how often should I do what? I currently run about once or twice a week, between 2 and 3 miles... And usually do the low impact cardio workouts on 2 or three other days depending how much energy I have. I really don't like hiit and I find lunges etc really hurt me. Anyway I've never done much strength training before so how often should I be doing that per week? And I assume on those days I should dial back the cardio a little so how long would you cardio on your weight days?

I'm after body toning mostly as I'm a healthy but... So what's the best routine?

sati18

Also wanted to add that I'm not a very consistent and dedicated exerciser so at the moment I'm probably quite a beginner level in terms of general fitness

LKArgh

It depends on your goals and what type of routine you are following. For me, some sort of cardio, even just walking for half an hour, is something I try to do 5-6 times per week, and currently I am following a 2 times per week lifting program. But there are all sorts of routines out there, so it really depends on what are your expectations, plus what you like.

DedRepublic

sati18 wrote: »

Also wanted to add that I'm not a very consistent and dedicated exerciser so at the moment I'm probably quite a beginner level in terms of general fitness

How many days a week can your weight train?

eboniivoried

I put more focus on strength training and only do about 20 min of cardio (high resistance cycling) after weightlifting. I never go more than 3 days (lately it's been no more than 1 day) without hitting the gym.

Add more weight training to your routine. If lunges aren't your thing (I know squats hurt my knees), I'd take a break from them and utilize the leg press instead.

cwolfman13

Depends on the time of year and whether or not I'm training for events, etc. As a matter of general fitness I lift 3x per week and I do some form of cardio on my non-lifting days (mostly ride my bike). I usually get in a walk most days. I take one rest day per week.

For weight training I recommend a full body routine for beginners....full body routines are generally 3x weekly on non-consecutive days (rest is very important).

carrieous

both are important. You can actually gain strength doing cardio when you do the elliptical or bike with a heavy resistance. Just free spinning with no resistance isnt going to do much for you unless you are very out of shape. I use a 20 resistance on the bike and a 13 on the elliptical. I also lift most days of the week

sati18

OK so firstly thanks everyone for replying! To give more detail... I do walk as well as I'm a hyper person. Without really trying I get to around 8,000 steps a day on my fitbit. When I do a cardio routine on fitnessblender it tends to come in around 12,000 to 15,000 so I'm not probably looking to do much more cardio than that. It usually works out to three or five half hour intensive cardio bursts, plus the steps from the rest of my day. I plan to add weights on top.

I don't go to a gym so all my workouts are either at home, or running outside. In terms of how often I could lift, any amount I suppose... It just means I have to get up a little earlier to add the extra time to do it.

I've seen elsewhere that three days a week seems pretty standard for strength training.. So if that's the norm I'm happy to go with that.

Another question... When you started your strength routines how long was it befoee you saw results?

rileyes

I saw improvement with just (5-15 minute) body weight exercises:

• squats, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, bridges
• static lunges, RKC plank, step-ups, pull-ups

These basic exercises can be altered as you improve strength. For instance, you can start with the easier chair squats and push-ups. And adjust as it gets less difficult. For instance, full squat with weights.

I alternate 4 sets of 8-30 reps of these four days a week. My six pack is there (in the right light:) and my quads have more definition.
I do, at least, 20 minutes of (fat-burning) cardio every day (smacks everything into place).

You could choose two FitnessBlender full-body routines to alternate four days a week. And supplement with your DB lifting and cardio.

PlumpKitten

I've been focusing on strength training. For a while I was doing Venus Factor, which was 3 x / week. So I made my priority getting those in first.
If I had days in between or extra gym time, I would supplement with jogging or yoga -- just to keep some cardio / fat-burning / flexibility in the mix.
In reality, I probably did strength 3 x, 1 jog, 1 yoga. Each workout 30-45 min (60 if I was really free).
As a working mom, this was enough for me!

I've moved up a step and am now doing Muscle & Fitness's 4-week beginners program. It's 3-6 days of strength (it starts slow and builds up.) So my priority is getting through those. One "off" days when I have time, I sub in cardio - but that's now dropped a bit.
And I do about 15 min yoga before bed, bc the new weight work makes me a bit stiff.

I am definitely loosing inches on this program.
Hope that helps!

slp51

I like FitnessBlender as well. But I also like The Body Project by Daniel Bartlett. You can find his exercise routines on YouTube as well. He combines cardio (anything from low to high impact) with strength training. Win-win!

sati18

Awesome guys thanks for your help! I like the idea of picking two full body strength workouts to do twice each a week and then just adding cardio on too pending the amount of energy at the time.. Reckon I'll give that a bash and see how it goes. Thank you again to everyone for taking the time to reply... Much appreciated!

rileyes

I would do the full-body exercises four times a week--Especially if you want to gain strength and advance.

sati18

Haha that's what I meant but maybe it didn't come across like that.. I meant like two sets of workouts twice a week each so four times total :-)

sati18

One thing I do find a but difficult is choosing the right weight. I can usually start the first set of reps with a higher one but my arms get tired quickly so I go down because they always say about having to do it with the proper form. It's a little hard to know when is the time to swap down if you're finding it hard, or whether I'm just letting myself off easy and should try to push thorough with the higher weight setting

rileyes

Maybe try a weight you can manage for 3 sets of 8-12 reps. Increase the weight in the consecutive weeks.

sati18

Wouldn't that be too easy though? Sorry I hope I'm not asking too many questions but for example the routine I did this morning had hammer curls in it. For the first set of 10 reps I could (with difficulty) do them with 5.5kg.

After the first set tho I thought I might pop something if I carried on so I switched to 4kg and did the other 2 sets of 10 reps. But with those for hammer curls they were pretty easy. I didn't feel like my arms were shaking at the end or find them *that * difficult. So I thought maybe I should have persevered with the higher ones for another set.

I want to push myself... I'd be royally peeved if I put the time in and then find out that I get nowhere because I used too little weight, but equally when you work out at home there's no one to tell you when it's not enough or when it's too much. How do you judge?

Thanks btw I appreciate you keep coming back into the thread to reply :-)

nekoface

For how much exercise to do, I try to meet the CDC guidelines for physical activity: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html

150 minutes cardio and 2 days strength-training a week is the recommended minimum. I find I hit this by exercising for at least 30 minutes every day before week or during lunch for the cardio. Then do a full-body strength-training workout 3x a week in the evening (I use kettlebells, it only takes about 10 minutes).

The CDC page above says muscle-strengthening activities need to be done to the point where it's hard for you to do another repetition without help. If you're finding 4kg too easy you probably need a higher weight? You could try doing less repetitions first and then work up to 10 reps.